


Evie, It's Cold Outside

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21794530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: Shameless holiday Malvie fluff in which all Mal wants for Christmas is Evie (and Jay happily takes on the role of Santa's little helper)
Relationships: Evie/Mal (Disney)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 109





	Evie, It's Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Shamelessly inspired by "Baby It's Cold Outside"

"You did what??"  
  
Mal's demanding voice didn't have to try very hard to be heard above the crowd, not even a crowd like half the school flooding the halls after the last class of the day let out. In lieu of the weekend, Jay shoved his entire backpack—books and all—into his locker, thinking back over everything he'd just said and trying to puzzle out which part Mal had a problem with.  
  
"Arranged a Christmas party?" he guessed, slamming his locker shut and leaning back lazily against it.  
  
"Not that. I heard that."  
  
Jay thought some more, the blank expression on his face slowly turning into the sheepish grin of a guilty little boy.  
  
"...Told everyone it's gonna be at your place? I know, bad, but the thing is your mom is never home, so I figured—"  
  
"Not _that,_ although in a minute we're definitely coming back to _that,"_ Mal narrowed her eyes.  
  
Well, Jay was running out of guesses. Throwing a Christmas party and setting it up at Mal's house was pretty much the extent of his afternoon news.  
  
But a lightbulb went off at the very last second, twisting his sheepish grin into a downright evil smile.  
  
"Ohh, invited Evie?" he chuckled.  
  
"You invited _Evie!!"_ Mal snapped. "Why would you do that??"  
  
Jay snickered and ruffled Mal's hair, a move that only he could get away with without being murdered on the spot.  
  
"Because you like her."  
  
"Jay!!" Mal's head whipped all around, scanning the hall for eavesdroppers.  
  
"You like her, and you need to see her someplace _other_ than physics class. So, party."  
  
"You have to un-invite her," Mal said simply.  
  
But Jay wouldn't even entertain the idea for a fraction of a second, rolling his eyes and peeling himself away from his locker to start a walk towards the end of the corridor.  
  
"And tell her what? That _you_ don't want her there? Sure, just as long as you're okay with how terrible that's gonna make her feel."  
  
Mal wasn't okay with that.  
  
"Then call off the whole party," she suggested instead. "Or hey, here's a wacky idea, why don't you throw _your_ party at _your_ house?"  
  
"Think of it as your gift," Jay said as he strolled along. "Last year I got you clothes, this year I'm getting you a girlfriend."  
  
"I don't need Evie to be my girlfriend."  
  
"No, you don't need her to, but you definitely want her to."  
  
Far be it for Mal to get flustered, especially over something as stupid as romance, yet here she was keeping pace with Jay and bearing a striking resemblance to flustered.  
  
"You don't even know how Evie feels about me!"  
  
"I know that she's your homework buddy."  
  
"Hours after school in the library doesn't mean anything," Mal petulantly argued.  
  
Jay sported a cool and collected smirk.  
  
"Except that she doesn't mind spending hours after school with you."  
  
He made a valid point, and Mal hated him for it.  
  
They must have been speaking of the devil, for upon reaching the end of the hall and turning a corner they nearly ran right into Carlos and Evie, walking side by side.  
  
"Carlos, perfect timing!" Jay clapped a hand to his shoulder. "I'm starving. Pizza?"  
  
"Sure," Carlos agreed easily enough.  
  
With his afternoon plans settled, Jay then looked to Evie.  
  
"Hey, Evie, what kind of pizza do you like? For the party," he asked.  
  
Evie's smile couldn't be described as anything other than sweet, and as Mal unknowingly stared at her all she could think was that Evie looked just like a princess.  
  
"I'm not picky. I'll eat whatever," she answered. "Thanks again for inviting me."  
  
"Thank Mal, really, she's the one playing hostess," Jay gave her a playful nudge.  
  
"Against her will," Mal made sure to clarify.  
  
Jay rolled his eyes.  
  
"Relax, it's my party, I'm the one doing all the work. All you have to do is unlock the front door."  
  
When Evie next spoke, she did it with a happy little bounce in her step. Mal was secretly melting on the inside.  
  
"I'm so excited, I never get to do Christmas at my own house," Evie said.  
  
Carlos balked.  
  
"No way??"  
  
Evie just smiled and shrugged, unperturbed and having long since made her peace with it.  
  
"It's the whole winter season, my mom's really not big on anything that has to do with snow."  
  
"Then we'll make sure the day is extra festive for you, won't we Mal?" Jay slyly teased as he put his arm around her.  
  
It took all her willpower not to knock him upside his head.  
  
"Alright, see you guys later," Jay took Carlos and left before a diabolical bout of laughter could escape him, leaving Mal and Evie alone.  
  
It wasn't as if the girls were dropped into a horridly awkward silence in his absence, they were friends, after all.  
  
"Does Jay usually make a habit of throwing parties at your house that you don't know about?" Evie laughed.  
  
"No, and for his sake I hope he doesn't start. But I'm glad you get to have some holiday fun, I didn't know your mom doesn't do Christmas. Not even presents?"  
  
"Not even," Evie told her. "But it's alright, I always spend this time of year with friends and _their_ Christmas celebrations, so it's not like I completely miss out."  
  
It was as if nothing could ever dampen Evie's mood. Mal couldn't imagine not having a Christmas, even her wicked witch of a mother celebrated the holiday with her. Granted, Mal's gifts from her mom were usually along the line of things like socks or pens (not even art pens, just pens her mother had lifted from restaurants or bank countertops), but still. Mal as a general rule was not a merry person, but in spite of that even she would flip without her Christmas. Yet here was Evie, making the best of it, smile never leaving her face.  
  
No wonder Mal liked her. Opposites really did attract.  
  
"...Well, I'll see you at the party tomorrow," Mal wasn't particularly in a rush to say goodbye, but she was coming way too close to blushing than she really cared to admit.  
  
"Yeah, I'll see you," Evie nodded, and left Mal with a wave before she stepped past her and headed up the hallway.  
  
Mal went in the opposite direction, not getting very far before she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. A text from Jay.  
  
["I don't know what you're stressing about. The mistletoe will do all the hard work for you."]  
  
Mal wondered how far up smacking him senseless would land her on Santa's naughty list.

* * *

Mal, in all honesty, was not overly fond of parties. And as it turned out, she was even less fond of them when they were at her house. Not everyone was a stranger, but a lot of them were, strangers in her house and taking up her space. Yet that was a simple thing to get over when Evie arrived, and Mal had to grudgingly admit that Jay was right; it was good to finally see her someplace other than physics class or the school library, someplace where they could talk as long as they wanted and laugh as loud as they felt like.  
  
They spent the entire party together, which Mal didn't even realize was happening until those passing moments when she caught Jay eyeing her from across a room, waggling his eyebrows and winking. If Evie hadn't been at her side the whole time, Mal would've spent half the party flipping him off.  
  
She never denied having a crush on Evie (not even to herself) but perhaps what she had been denying was just _how much_ of a crush she had on her, for spending time with Evie outside of the bounds of their physics teacher's droning lessons or the scary stares of the school librarians had Mal feeling the best she'd felt in a very long time. True, she wasn't leaving Evie's side, but what was even more amazing was that Evie wasn't leaving _her_ side either. Evie wasn't like Mal, she didn't keep only a small handful of close friends, she was actually rather popular. She knew people all across the school, and had so many friends and acquaintances at the party she could've been hanging out with.  
  
So what did it mean that she was only hanging out with Mal?  
  
Winter turned day to night sooner than anyone ever could anticipate, and as it did, the party started to wind down. Kids began stuffing their arms with leftovers, downing the last of the chips, shuffling towards the front door as they prepared to leave soon. Mal was eyeing the kitchen from her living room couch, watching the food and snacks going by fast.  
  
"You want the last slice of pepperoni? I'll fight Doug over there for it," Mal offered.  
  
Evie laughed.  
  
"No thank you, I'm okay."  
  
The party was indeed winding down. Soon Evie would be leaving with the others slowly trickling towards the door, and on Monday the girls would fall back into their old routine of physics class and library, physics class and library. Maybe if they were lucky, they'd work a lunch period in there somewhere, but after today that just didn't seem like it would be enough for Mal anymore.  
  
"...Hey Evie? Don't go anywhere, okay? I'll be right back," Mal said as she got to her feet.  
  
And Evie stayed put, eyes following Mal as she crossed the room to the staircase and disappeared upstairs. She returned in mere moments, but those moments were the longest they'd been apart since the party began. She carried something behind her back, Evie could tell, and when she dropped down into her spot on the couch Mal handed her a gift wrapped in glittery red paper.  
  
"...Your Christmas present," Mal said. "Really last minute, I got home yesterday and decided I wanted to give you something at the party, so...it's not the greatest."  
  
Evie tuned out Mal's naysaying entirely, eyes wide and dancing with excitement as she took the gift in her hands.  
  
"For me?"  
  
"For you."  
  
"Mal...thank you. It means a lot that you thought of me. Should I save it for Christmas?"  
  
Mal shrugged, trying to brush off the thanks and act like that twinkle in Evie's eyes didn't affect her at all.  
  
"I mean, it's your present. You can do whatever you want with it."  
  
Evie seemed to study Mal intently just then, her gaze tracing her back and forth for a few silent seconds before a wry smile crept across her lips.  
  
"You want me to open it now. I can tell," she said with firm finality.  
  
Today was another day where Mal came much closer to blushing than she really wanted to think about.  
  
"Well, your face when you open it will definitely be better than my face when my mom gets me another pen for Christmas," her eyes darted away from Evie for a second, as if not looking at her would fight off the heat trying to creep into her cheeks.  
  
Evie admired the beautiful wrapping paper, tearing carefully at it instead of ripping it to shreds. Leaving the discarded paper beside her on the couch, she revealed a crisp new sketchbook.  
  
"I know, it's lame, you probably already have a dozen sketchbooks full of your clothing designs," Mal said apologetically. "But like I said, it was really last minute, and I didn't know what else to get you and—"  
  
"Mal, I love it!" Evie silenced her ramblings. "You can never have too many sketchbooks, thank you so much."  
  
"You love it," Mal repeated in a little bit of awe.  
  
"I do! I wish I would've gotten something for you...I _will_ get something for you, there's still plenty of time until Christmas, after all. Really, Mal, thank you."  
  
Evie leaned over and gave her a little hug, and the sudden warmth the gesture filled Mal with was quickly extinguished when the sound of the front door opening was heard and a blast of frigid air came gusting into the house.  
  
"Look! Look how hard it's snowing!!" someone bellowed excitedly.  
  
The rest of the partygoers went scrambling to the door to see for themselves, a thick white sheet of snowflakes coming down like rain and already piling up on the ground and in the driveway. Many of Jay's guests unceremoniously abandoned the dying party for good and went racing out into the snow with hoots and hollers, and many more still followed their lead. Mal's house seemed to empty in the blink of an eye, until only a few stragglers hunting for their coats and jackets were left.  
  
"Oh wow," Evie marveled at the snow as well until the last guy out shut the door behind him and blocked her view. "...I guess I'd better get going too."  
  
Mal knew the moment was going to come eventually, but even while facing it she still wished that it wouldn't.  
  
"But it's freezing outside," she said worriedly. The temperature had dropped drastically since the party began, and Evie wasn't exactly dressed for it.  
  
As if remembering herself, Evie looked down at her leggings and the skirt on top of them, pulling reflexively at the sleeves of her sweater like she was catching a chill even inside the house.  
  
"Yeah, it is. I can't believe I didn't think to bring a jacket, I had no idea it would get cold enough to snow today."  
  
They both fell into silence for a second, as if each one were waiting on the other to say something first.  
  
"...But I should go before it gets any worse," Evie broke the silence. "I had a great time, Mal. And thank you again for my sketchbook, you better believe I'll start drawing in it tonight. I'll see you on Monday?"  
  
Monday. Physics class and library, physics class and library. Their same old routine. Monday would be something completely different from today.   
  
And Mal just didn't want Monday.  
  
"...You're already kind of shivering," she noted, bravely reaching out and putting her hand on top of Evie's. "E, your hands are like ice."  
  
"Are they?" Evie couldn't even tell. But now that she was thinking about it, she'd honestly been a little cold for the last hour or so. It was just easy to forget about while she was with Mal. "I guess I really didn't dress for the weather today."  
  
"...You don't have to go right this second," Mal hopefully told her.  
  
"No, but if it gets hard to drive and my mother has to go out in this snow to come get me, she will not be happy."  
  
There was a minuscule touch of nerves to Evie's laughter at the thought of it. Mal curiously eyed the living room windows, where she couldn't see out because of the curtains but knew that snow was still falling on the other side of the glass irregardless.  
  
"It might not get worse. You could stay just a little bit longer, just to warm up. I could make you some hot chocolate?"  
  
With Mal's hand still around hers, Evie found herself easily enticed.  
  
"Oh, that does sound good," she nodded happily.  
  
Mal lit up like a Christmas tree.  
  
"I'll have it ready in no time now that half the English class is out of my kitchen," she grinned like an absolute fool.  
  
She stood up and made her way to said kitchen, where Jay was still poking around, stuffing food and trash into garbage bags with half a pizza crust sticking out of his mouth like a toothpick.   
  
"All that snow? Brilliant," he said proudly, as if it was personally his party idea. "The only thing that would be more perfect is if Santa himself came dropping down the chimney."  
  
"Don't have a chimney," Mal quickly said. "Look, Jay, you don't have to hang around."  
  
"Oh come on, Mal. I already threw the party at your house, I'm not gonna stick you with clean-up duty too."  
  
"Seriously, it's fine. Go ahead and go."  
  
Jay frowned, pizza crust drooping.  
  
"What are you—?"  
  
 _"Jay,"_ Mal spoke through clenched teeth.  
  
He peered curiously around her where he was able to see Evie sitting in the living room, carefully placing a sketchbook on the coffee table in front of her.  
  
And Jay had never looked giddy in his life until that very moment.  
  
"Ahhh. Gotcha," he stuffed the rest of the crust in his mouth and dumped the garbage bag he held into the trash can with a wink. "I'll be seeing myself out then."  
  
 _"See_ that you do," Mal narrowed her eyes.  
  
Jay sauntered away with a scheming swagger in his step. Mal watched him leave, not trusting him for a second, and as he passed through the living room he waved with a stupidly bright smile and a far-too-casual _"See you later, Evie."  
_  
Maybe if Mal only killed him just the one single time, it would be enough goodwill to keep her off the naughty list.  
  
With one last open and close of the front door, Mal and Evie were alone. The house was decidedly quiet.  
  
"...Hey, E?" she called out while she searched the fridge for milk. "You want to play some Christmas music or something? My iPod is on the speaker out there."  
  
The thought of Mal having Christmas music was absolutely endearing, and even though she was all the way in the kitchen where she couldn't see, Evie still turned her head to hide her smile as she rose to her feet. When Mal heard the sounds of "Holly Jolly Christmas" beginning to play she was joined in the kitchen by Evie, who even after the party was over still seemed dedicated on not leaving Mal's side.  
  
"Um...is there any particular reason the fridge magnets spell out 'Revenge, fools'?" Evie giggled in amusement.  
  
Mal, now at the countertop untying a bag of chocolate chips, glanced over her shoulder at the refrigerator.  
  
"Those are my mom's, and honestly, I don't know the reason. I'm not entirely sure I ever _want_ to know the reason," she answered.  
  
"Don't worry, my mom has her own eccentricities too."  
  
"Like the no Christmas thing?"  
  
"Like the no Christmas thing," Evie nodded. "And many other things."  
  
Mal pondered that, spilling chocolate chips onto a tiny cutting board and grabbing a knife out of a drawer.  
  
"...What are you doing? Making hot chocolate from scratch?" Evie asked, studying Mal's movements.  
  
Mal froze in carefully and painstakingly cutting the chocolate chips into even smaller bits.  
  
"Did you want instant?" Mal chided herself for not asking first.  
  
"Oh no, I'm sure your way is much tastier, I just didn't want you to go through any trouble."  
  
Adorable. As if Mal wouldn't literally jump through hoops if Evie so much as asked her to.  
  
"...It's no trouble."  
  
Ah, Mal. Poor, surprisingly sweet, head-over-heels Mal.  
  
"Can I help?" Evie wondered.  
  
Mal just shook her head.  
  
"My treat," she said with a smile.  
  
By the time the Christmas music had appropriately moved on to "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow", there was hot chocolate for two, and the girls went back into the living room.  
  
"Thank you, Mal. I'm warmer already."  
  
And maybe hot chocolate was only a small fraction of the reason why.  
  
They took back their comfy spots on the sofa, with Evie sipping contentedly as the hot chocolate was already at a perfect temperature.  
  
"...I really should go after this," her murmured words really seemed to lack conviction. "Your neighbors already spent all afternoon listening to music blaring, we wouldn't want them to protest."  
  
Mal liked to think that was a rather flimsy excuse.  
  
"We've got Christmas music going now, what kind of Scrooges would protest Christmas music?"  
  
"My mother, for one."  
  
For the first time all day—and what to Mal felt like the first time ever—Evie's face fell a little despondently. She had said before that it was alright, and seemed like she'd gotten used to her mom's major "eccentricity", but even someone as perfect as Evie was certainly allowed to falter every now and again. Mal wasn't sure what to tell her for a moment, until she stopped herself from thinking about what she _should_ say and went instead with what she _wanted_ to say. Mal didn't know Evie's mother, but even before today's party and discovering her anti-Christmas quirk, she never got the best of vibes whenever Evie spoke about her.  
  
"...Well, your mom isn't here. I'm here. And I have a picture perfect winter wonderland outside that only gets better when there's someone around to share it with. Namely, you."  
  
Mal was startled by her own sincerity. Why not save herself the extra breaths and just senselessly blurt _"I like you, Evie!"_? Honestly. It was like she had no chill whatsoever around this girl.  
  
Little did she know, she certainly had a way of earning Evie's affection.  
  
"And sharing winter wonderlands with someone gets even better still when that someone makes hot chocolate as amazing as you do," Evie said. "Seriously, what's in this? Is your secret ingredient magic?"  
  
"Telling you would ruin the 'secret' part."  
  
"Alright, point taken."  
  
It was dawning on Evie how she'd never been truly alone with Mal until now, and how incredibly easy it was to do so. She was so comfortable and at ease there in that living room, perhaps even more at ease here than she was in her own living room, her own house. She'd been saying she had to go, but leaving was feeling more and more like the last thing she wanted to do right now.  
  
"...Why are you staring at me like that?" Evie quietly asked. "Did I get chocolate on my face?"  
  
She automatically reached a hand up to wipe gently at her lips before she even had Mal's answer.  
  
"No, your...your eyes were suddenly sparkling. Like they do when you're talking about the things you really like."  
  
Evie was stunned. Mal really paid that much attention to the things she liked. And what's more, she apparently paid attention to the way Evie looked when in conversation about things she liked. Not just her outer beauty, like so many others shallowly focused on, but how her inner passions were reflected by her outer beauty. Perhaps the secret ingredient in the hot chocolate really was magic; Evie certainly felt drawn in by a spell right now.  
  
"But I bet you get told that all the time," Mal went on. "You've probably heard every compliment in the book."  
  
"I have. All the usual ones. You know, 'you're so beautiful' or 'your hair looks amazing'."  
  
"I do like the blue."  
  
Evie laughed at Mal's little aside.  
  
"Thank you. I like your purple," she said right back. "But you're the first person to tell me my eyes sparkle."  
  
"I'm not usually so cheesy," Mal flashed an embarrassed half-smile.  
  
Strange. Evie would've almost thought to call it romantic.  
  
If she was really as smart as she liked to believe she might have gotten out of there before she fell even further under the spell, one that Mal didn't at all know she was casting.  
  
"...It's sort of hard to believe this is the first time we've ever really hung out," Evie thought she could save herself by changing the subject.  
  
Mal carefully moved in closer after what looked like a moment of deliberation over whether she should or not. Being this close to Evie honestly distracted her for a second, but she got her train of thought back easily enough.  
  
"...I used to be worried that we were only friends when we were at school. You know, that all we had in common was physics class. I wanted to hang out with you, but at the same time I didn't want to be proven right. If we finally got together and just had nothing to talk about..."  
  
Evie didn't know what she was doing, hot chocolate in one hand and the other hand curling around Mal's arm.  
  
"I would've hated that too," Evie assured her.  
  
Mal so didn't want to wrong about this. Here was Evie suddenly being everything Mal had wished she could be ever since the day the girl who sat in front of her in physics became _Evie,_ smart, caring Evie who quickly proved herself just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. But was it all a little too sudden? Too sudden for Mal to possibly be reading this right?  
  
Evie was much more confident in the holiday magic that was unfolding literally as they spoke, that is, until she saw the tiny frown on Mal's face. A frown carrying worry and confusion that Evie misinterpreted, a gesture so small yet setting off the loudest alarms in her head that made her draw her hand back and away from Mal. Perhaps Mal really wasn't seeing her in the light that Evie thought she was.  
  
"...Really, M, I don't want to overstay my welcome," Evie set her mug down on the coffee table and got to her feet, Mal's wide eyes following her all the way up.  
  
"...What? Evie, you're not overstaying anything. Hey, I'd rather you be here than out in that storm."  
  
Evie went to one of the windows, her steps dragging a bit.  
  
"I'd hardly call it a storm," she pulled the curtain back, where the falling wall of white was being whipped around by what had to be a bitter wind. "...Okay, maybe it's a little like a storm."  
  
Mal stood up, taking Evie's drink with her and joining her at the window.  
  
"I want you to stay," Mal murmured behind her.  
  
"...Yeah?" Evie turned around.  
  
"Yeah. Because we're sharing the winter wonderland, remember? If you leave, then it's just me, and me here alone isn't nearly as wonderful."  
  
The wind started to rattle the windows loudly over the tunes of their Christmas songs, and even on this side of the glass Evie felt the chill. Her car was only at the end of the driveway, but even the end of the driveway was a trek that seemed daunting to make when the house was so warm and the couch was so cozy.  
  
"...You really want me to stay," Evie spoke like she was truly only just now realizing it.  
  
"Have I been acting like I don't?" an anxious chuckle escaped Mal as she offered Evie her hot chocolate back.  
  
And Evie took it, warming her hands around the mug.  
  
"I'm...trying to read you," Evie admitted. "I don't feel like I'm as good at it tonight as I usually am."  
  
"Read me?" Mal repeated. "Why? You've never had to read me before."  
  
Well, _before_ , Evie only knew that they were friends. But then she spent an entire party with Mal and curled up next to her after everyone else had gone, and suddenly the way she looked forward to physics class every day and eagerly awaited homework sessions in the library was making a lot more sense to her.  
  
"...I read people," she said to Mal, who was awaiting a response. "So few of them say what they mean or mean what they say. I've just gotten used to finding out for myself."  
  
"You doubt me?" Mal fretted.  
  
"I don't! Mal, I don't. It's only a force of habit. And a little bit of fun. Asking what you're thinking about would be way too easy."  
  
Evie was trying to figure out what she was thinking. Mal wondered if she wanted her to be successful or not.  
  
"For one, I think we should stay away from the windows. It's cold outside," Mal chuckled, going back to the sofa.  
  
Evie was not far behind, confident once more about what was happening here.  
  
"Maybe if the weather keeps up we'll have a snow day on Monday," she said conversationally, tucking her legs underneath her on the couch and really settling in.  
  
Poor Mal. All she could think now when she heard the words "snow day" was her and Evie in these exact same spots, cuddled under an oversized blanket with hoodies and Christmas movies and even more hot chocolate. Oh, she was in entirely too deep.  
  
"I wouldn't mind a snow day. Usually I'm not a fan of anything that would keep me stuck inside with my mother all day, but she's never around anymore, so, no worries," Mal shrugged.  
  
"You don't get along with your mom either?" Evie asked.  
  
"It's more like she doesn't get along with me," Mal could only laugh. This was _her_ thing that she'd long since made her peace with, in one way or another. "That's why Jay threw his party here, because mom's gone for days at a time and he likes his fun to be parent-free."  
  
"...You must get so lonely."  
  
Sometimes Mal did. But she wasn't about to admit it. Besides, she wasn't lonely now, and that was what mattered.  
  
"I'm lucky that you dropped in. And even luckier that you stayed," she said.  
  
"I wouldn't have missed it. Spending the afternoon with you was so nice. And warm," Evie lifted her mug of hot chocolate for emphasis.  
  
They'd been running through fun and cheerful Christmas songs, but now the soft and calming tune of "Silent Night" was beginning to fill the air. What was less calming was the way the whole house seemed to rattle every now and then, buffeted by the wintery wind. Evie looked over her shoulder at the windows, where she knew the world outside was looking more and more like a snowglobe.  
  
"My mom is probably buried under a mountain of blankets in her queen-sized bed wondering what in the world I'm doing out in this storm," she mused out loud.  
  
"What are you going to tell her?" Mal wondered.  
  
Evie thought about it for a second.  
  
"...I'll tell her that there was no need to worry. I had someone to keep me warm. In more ways than one."  
  
Oh, that had to mean something. Was Mal really just about to sit there stupidly sipping hot chocolate and pretending that didn't mean something?  
  
"You're staring again," Evie noted in amusement, leaning in close as if seriously studying Mal. "Are my eyes still sparkling? Am I talking about something I really like?"  
  
She could see the hesitation on Mal's face.  
  
"...You can tell me, M."  
  
No, it turned out that Mal was _not_ about to sit there stupidly sipping hot chocolate and pretending that none of this meant anything.  
  
"...I was just thinking that...maybe you'd taste like chocolate if I kissed you right now," she practically whispered, her stare moving longingly to Evie's lips.  
  
Funny. It was as if Evie had been waiting all evening to hear that. And suddenly Christmas magic put her in an oh-so-playful mood.  
  
"...Well, you're so beautiful and sweet to me that I'd love to let you find out, but it _is_ Christmas time after all, and we seem to be a little short on mistletoe," she batted her eyes, leaning into Mal even closer still.  
  
Mal was an exceptionally good sport, glancing up curiously at the ceiling above her head and kindly playing along even though she'd been _dying_ to kiss Evie for well over a month now.  
  
"I guess we are," she quietly said, looking back to Evie. "But maybe...we could just pretend?"  
  
Evie acted like she was thinking it over, brow furrowing in thought.  
  
"...Okay."  
  
And wow. She really _did_ taste like chocolate.  
  
A long and longing kiss was finally gifted to Mal, and never mind the whirlwind of snow outside or the Christmas music reaching its crescendo; all she could hear was her own thrilled heart beating away in her ears.  
  
"...Now _your_ eyes are sparkling," Evie said with the sweetest of giggles, shyly biting her lip.  
  
"...You've had that effect on me for a while," Mal admitted just as shyly.  
  
Evie took Mal's hand in her own. The touch was electric, they could both feel it.  
  
"I can see why they call this the most wonderful time of the year," Evie said. "Snow, hot chocolate, imaginary mistletoe..."  
  
Mal couldn't believe her ridiculously good mood right now. Far be it for her to get whimsical, but she really felt like she might just float away if her hand wasn't held so tight within Evie's.   
  
"And to think that you almost didn't want to stay," she shrewdly teased.  
  
"You said the weather might not get bad, after all. Now look at it, it's practically a blizzard. I _should_ have left when I had the chance, I bet it's up to my knees out there by now," Evie teased right back.  
  
"And what was I supposed to do if you went out and got pneumonia, huh? Imagine what they'd say at school on Monday."  
  
"Imagine what they'll say anyway when they see that physics isn't the only thing we have together anymore."  
  
Honestly, Mal was thrilled to be able to imagine it.  
  
Evie leaned forward to set her hot chocolate down, before curling against Mal and resting her head on her shoulder. Yesterday, Mal had said she didn't need Evie to be her girlfriend. Jay had said that Mal wanted her to.  
  
Only one of them had been right.  
  
"What are you doing?" Mal questioned but _certainly_ didn't protest Evie cuddling with her.  
  
Evie smiled the biggest smile, her eyes fluttering shut as she listened to "White Christmas" and let the world outside of herself and Mal fall away.  
  
"...It's cold outside."  
  
Outside, yes. But inside, under a lively green sprig of imaginary mistletoe, it was _so_ very warm.  
  
"Before I leave, you have to tell me what I should get you for Christmas," Evie said, thinking of the lovely gift of her sketchbook and how she wanted to return the favor.  
  
"...Believe me, E. You've already given me my present."


End file.
